Home Gym Guide

When undertaking a project such as building a home gym, there are many factors that must be taken into consideration for the project to be a success. Because you are limited to a small space, you have to make sure you buy equipment that is as effective as possible in regards to your over all goals, whilst not taking up a large amount of space.

Here we have compiled a few example home gym equipment layouts based on specific workout styles. Hopefully this will give you some insight into an effective home gym layout and the equipment that goes with it.

Cardiovascular

There are many different combinations of cardio equipment one could have in a home gym and each combination has its merits. This example involves a Concept 2 Rower and Spin bike. Both of these pieces of equipment allow a variety of different training sessions and enable you to push the intensity of your sessions without any impact forces pounding your joints. In addition, the combination of using both upper and lower body musculature allows you to condition the largest muscles to burn fat and improve your cardiovascular fitness.

Strength

Strength is straight forward and therefore having the ability to load your body through the major movement patterns (push, pull and squat) also doesn’t have to be complicated. A solid power rack with chinning handles and safety bars, plus Olympic bar and weight plates takes care of the major muscles groups, throw in some dumbbells to fill in the gaps and you are on your way to a stronger body.

Cross Trainer

Improved strength, cardiovascular endurance, balance and proprioception... if having the ability to address all these qualities is what you are after in your quest for fitness then the crosstrainer home gym will be perfect for you. Another positive is this doesn’t require a plethora of equipment or a lot of space; a good spinning bike, TRX straps, dynamic strength apparatus (Kettlebells), suspension bars and your body weight provides everything you need. So whatever your training or performance goals are you can attack it from all angles.

Functional

Functional training has swiftly become a very popular and accessible means to get your body in great shape. Its ease of access and low cost means it is also a very viable way of turning a spare room into your very own training zone. The mix of suspension training (TRX), power bags, Kettlebells, BOSU, and punch bags allows you to constantly vary the speed, resistance and angle of movement to illicit a training effect which has a real transfer to both sports or any daily challenge you will face. The almost limitless variety means you can constantly challenge yourself to push the limits of your fitness.